I'm just back from the Yearly Kos Convention where I spoke on the Framing from the Top Panel, the Technology and Politics panel, and moderated the Youth Movement panel (which will eventually be aired on C-Span).
If you've read anything about the Kos Convention this week, you've probably heard one of two things.
- The Democratic establishment is showing up to pay its respects to all of us "rag tag" bloggers.
- The Yearly Kos Convention is 95% white male
I exaggerate (a little), but the lack of diversity was stark - both in the panels, the content of the panels, and the crowd. As we're seeing more black bloggers come together in the Afro-sphere, and a number of immigration bloggers operating in loose association, we should think about next year's convention and how we can increase the influence of women and people of color in the blogosphere. Next year's convention, which is sure to be as large a step forward from this year, as this weekends conference was from the innaugural event in 2006. Let's make sure that next year, the Netroots Nation actually reflects the diversity of the progressive movement.
The folks at Yearly Kos are extremely friendly and open to increasing the diversity of the conference, however they are also even more stretched thin - in man power and funding and time. If more bloggers of color reach out to them - propose panels, or work to fund travel and lodging - the folks at Yearly Kos will be more than happy to assist in any way possible. But this is a shoestring operation and we need to make the first move.
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